For The Love of Cars
Discussion
Did I really hear Ant say something along the lines of "normally when you restore a car, you'd fit a water-cooled engine, but for originality we're sticking with the air-cooled one"? Towards the end of the resto when the engine was going back in I'm sure it was something like that. And Phil, do you think you could mention a bit more often that Ant's more used to dealing with hundred-thousand pound cars, in case anyone missed it the first three times?
This edition was one of the better ones, I thought - a bit more of the resto, not quite so much faffing around. I was surprised they had trouble with that camper van on the trip and put it down to overheating, aren't these the things that hippies used to trek around Morocco in, where it might be a bit warmer than Devon? I don't know much about air-cooled VWs so that might be my ignorance.
Last one though, next week seems to be a look back at this series and a general look at auctions.
This edition was one of the better ones, I thought - a bit more of the resto, not quite so much faffing around. I was surprised they had trouble with that camper van on the trip and put it down to overheating, aren't these the things that hippies used to trek around Morocco in, where it might be a bit warmer than Devon? I don't know much about air-cooled VWs so that might be my ignorance.
Last one though, next week seems to be a look back at this series and a general look at auctions.
droopsnoot said:
Did I really hear Ant say something along the lines of "normally when you restore a car, you'd fit a water-cooled engine, but for originality we're sticking with the air-cooled one"? Towards the end of the resto when the engine was going back in I'm sure it was something like that.
I wondered if I heard that correctly as well - glad I wasn't the only one.I would think Ant is just the 'project manager' for each car, and doesn't actually ever turn a spanner on any of the cars other than for each staged bit of filming. All being done at the same time in different specialist restoration companies.
The Don of Croy said:
As for the buyer - his late bro once sat on a Beetle (photo evidence to hand)...is he buying every Beetle he ever sees? This one one was different age, different colour, different fitments, different stance, maybe different engine and also different interior. Must bring back lots of memories.
I've not seen every programme but how often has this " property developer" bought the car, complete with a back story featuring a link to his dead brother? Wasn't he going to re-aution the Saab to raise funds for cancer research. Has this happened yet?
Nice to see another Quest stalwart Drew Pritchard from "Salvage Hunter" bidding on a few of the cars. Genuine interest or just playing a role?
I really must get out more.
Cheers,
Tony
Tony427 said:
Nice to see another Quest stalwart Drew Pritchard from "Salvage Hunter" bidding on a few of the cars. Genuine interest or just playing a role?
He's definitely a big Beetle fan. He bought a 50's ragtop through Type 2 Detectives in an episode of Salvage Hunters.
Edited by rohrl on Monday 1st June 12:13
As mentioned above, that VW must have made a huge loss, and the buyer had a real bargain.
How much does restoration work cost? At one point it was stated that more than 1,000 man hours went into the Beetle. My local garage charges about £40 an hour. Main dealers charge, what, upwards of £100? I guess there might be some sort of discount on the hourly rate for a full resto, but even a paltry £20/hour works out at £20,000, without parts, paint, etc.
I also didn't understand the comment about water-cooled engines. There are plenty of Subaru engined Type 1s and Type 2s, but nobody would claim that they were "restorations".
Does keeping the vehicle moving make that much difference to the cooling? As far as I can remember from my one venture into Beetle ownership (terminated by a dropped valve and rust), and the various Transporters owned by my brother, the engine is completely enclosed in tinware.
I was surprised that they didn't take the body off, at least to paint it, if not to rustproof it properly.
The end result was a bit odd, not a restoration, not Cal-look (or whatever the current custom trend is), like a resto-mod, but without any of the updates that might make it err... "mod".
How much does restoration work cost? At one point it was stated that more than 1,000 man hours went into the Beetle. My local garage charges about £40 an hour. Main dealers charge, what, upwards of £100? I guess there might be some sort of discount on the hourly rate for a full resto, but even a paltry £20/hour works out at £20,000, without parts, paint, etc.
I also didn't understand the comment about water-cooled engines. There are plenty of Subaru engined Type 1s and Type 2s, but nobody would claim that they were "restorations".
Does keeping the vehicle moving make that much difference to the cooling? As far as I can remember from my one venture into Beetle ownership (terminated by a dropped valve and rust), and the various Transporters owned by my brother, the engine is completely enclosed in tinware.
I was surprised that they didn't take the body off, at least to paint it, if not to rustproof it properly.
The end result was a bit odd, not a restoration, not Cal-look (or whatever the current custom trend is), like a resto-mod, but without any of the updates that might make it err... "mod".
Davel said:
So the regular buyer is buying wrecked cars which have been fully restored - free of any labour costs in doing so.
Surely, he can't go wrong?
If he was in the market for a Beetle already he can't go wrong but he won't be able to sell the car for a profit.Surely, he can't go wrong?
It's a fact of life that, unlike houses, you don't often get your money back when doing up cars.
Davel said:
I'm not just talking about the Beetle but also the other cars that he has purchased
He seems like a third member of the team now.
Don't forget, all the auction's are filmed on the same day. If he was there with a bucket load of cash, surely not unreasonable for him to buy three cars?He seems like a third member of the team now.
RichB said:
Eviltad said:
What was the buyers third car? I saw the Aston and the Beetle, what did I miss?
I haven't seen the VW program yet but if it's the coloured chap with his young son then he bought the Aston and the SAAB. Would a thousand man hours not be the whole team though? A phrase used for dramatic effect? If, say, 5 people work on the car, 200 total hours in the garage at say £50 an hour labour. £10k labour cost. Still steep mind.
Not a bad episode I thought this one. And I can't stand VWs or Porsches.
Not a bad episode I thought this one. And I can't stand VWs or Porsches.
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